If you have friends coming over then make this easy dessert the day before then slice and decorate when you need it. Couldn’t be simpler and a great hit with adults and kids.

Serves 10
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Sponge base

100g (4oz) soft margarine

100g (4oz) caster sugar

100g (4oz) self-raising flour

2 eggs

Grated rind of 1 lemon

Mousse

3 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons powdered gelatine

225g (8oz) strawberries, hulled

150g (5oz) raspberries

150ml (1/4 pint) double cream

400g (14oz) can full fat condensed milk

Juice of 1 lemon

Sauce

225g (8oz) strawberries

150g (5oz) raspberries

To serve

Few extra strawberries, hulled, sliced

Few extra raspberries

Few sugar confetti hearts, optional

Few red hundreds and thousands, optional

Little icing sugar, sifted

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC (350oF), Gas Mark 4.

Line an 18 x 28 x 4cm (7 x 11 x 1½ inch) loose bottomed rectangular cake tin with non-stick baking paper, snipping diagonally into the corners of the paper and pressing into the tin so that the base and sides are lined.

Add all the sponge ingredients to a bowl or food processor and beat together until smooth.

Spoon into the paper lined tin and smooth into a thin even layer.

Bake for 15 minutes until golden and the sponge springs back when lightly pressed with a finger.

Leave to cool in the tin.

Meanwhile, make the mousse by adding the water to a small heatproof bowl; sprinkle the gelatine over the top so that all the dry powder is absorbed.

Leave to stand for 5 minutes then stand the bowl in a saucepan of hot water and simmer gently for about 5-10 minutes until the gelatine is a clear liquid.

Puree the strawberries and raspberries in a food processor or liquidiser then press through a sieve.

Lightly whisk the cream in a bowl until it forms soft swirls then whisk in the condensed milk and lemon juice until thick and smooth.

Whisk in the fruit puree then gradually fold in the gelatine, pouring it into the bowl in a thin steady stream.

Pour the mousse over the sponge base.

Freeze overnight, loosely wrapping in foil when set.

To make the sauce, puree the berries then press through a sieve, pour into a plastic box and chill in the fridge overnight.

When ready to serve, remove the dessert from the freezer.

Unwrap, remove from the tin and peel away the lining paper.

Cut into 10 bars with a knife dipped in hot water.

Transfer to serving plates.

Arrange extra berries, sugar confetti and hundreds and thousands on top, dust with sifted icing sugar and serve with a separate jug of pureed berries.

The cooked choux puffs can be made the day before and kept in an airtight tin then fill and serve with sauce when you need them.

For kids or adults who don’t like dark chocolate then use half dark and half milk chocolate for a lighter tasting sauce or why not drizzle with an easy berry sauce made by pureeing 225g (8oz) strawberries and 150g (5oz) raspberries pureed together then press through a sieve before serving

A couple of months ago I was contacted by the lovely people at Baxters, informing me that they are launching a Britain loves Beetroot campaign. They were looking for bloggers to take part in a making their own beetroot recipe as part of a fun challenge. We love beetroot in our house, (only yesterday my son had it with his fish and chips) so I was looking forward to taking part.

This is the hamper we kindly got sent- 4 different jars of beetroot, a cooking apron and this beautiful picnic hamper. It arrived Christmas eve, great timing then to go with lots of party food. The first thing we tried was some Rosy Roast Beetroot Roots , a recipe I posted for Baxters a while ago. Not having got around to trying it myself I was looking forward to making these. As it was for Christmas day dinner and we were already having mash and roasted potatoes, I decided to change the recipe slightly to 300g of parsnips in place of the potatoes.

Apart from lots of little snacks over the Christmas holidays using the beetroot, I was thinking is there a sweet recipe I could try? How could I incorporate beetroot into cake? There must be a way!!

Here then is my recipe I made up for the beetroot challenge. My daughter who is not yet a beetroot fan could not wait to try them, and she loved them too...

Ingredients

75g Beetroot in sweet malt vinegar, drained and grated

75g Thawed raspberries drained and cut up

125g Self raising flour (sieved)

125g Golden Caster sugar

125g Stork baking liquid

2 Eggs

25g Coco powder

1tsp vanilla essence

Topping

100g Cream cheese

70g Icing sugar

1 Tbsp of raspberries juice ( from the thawed raspberries)

12 Thawed raspberries

Chocolate sprinkles

Sprinkle of icing sugar for dusting tops

Method

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/Gas Mark 4.

Place 12 muffin bun cases in a 12 holed muffin tray.

Place the baking liquid and golden caster sugar in a bowl and mix together with an electric whisk.

Beat in the eggs one at a time with a little of the flour.

Mix in the remaining flour and coco powder.

Using a wooden spoon mix in the beetroot, Raspberries and vanilla essence.

Spoon the mixture evenly between the muffin cases.

Cook in the middle of a preheated oven for around 25 minutes.

Once cooked place on a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Making the icing

Place the cream cheese in a bowl with raspberries juice and with a fork mix together.

Sieve the icing sugar into the bowl and mix again ( place in fridge for 30 minutes) to cool as it may get a little runny.

Place a spoonful on top of each bun.

Place a raspberry in the middle few chocolate sprinkles and little bit of icing sugar.

I was so pleased with how my beetroot and raspberries chocolate muffins turned out...

About this post- I was kindly asked to take part in this beetroot challenge and was not paid for this post. All thoughts are my own honest opinion...

This is essentially a sauce with whisked egg whites folded in. They look spectacular the minute they come out of the oven so the tricky bit is making sure that everyone is sitting at the table ready to enjoy the moment that they are ready.

Line the base and sides of a 30 x 20 x 5 cm/12 x 8 x 2 inch rectangular cake tin (or roasting tin with the same base measurement) with a large piece of non-stick baking paper, snip diagonally into the corners then press the paper into the tin so that the base and sides are lined and the paper stands a little above the top of the tin sides.

Cream the soft margarine and sugar together in a bowl or food processor until light and fluffy.

Mix the flour and baking powder together then gradually mix in alternate spoonfuls of egg then flour until both have all been added and the mixture is smooth.

Stir in the lemon rind and lemon juice until the mixture is a soft dropping consistency.

Spoon the cake mixture into the lined tin, or for a patriotic red, white and blue marble cake, spoon half the cake mixture into the lined tin.

Then divide the remaining cake mixture between two bowls, colour one half red, the remainder blue.

Add spoonfuls of the coloured mixtures to the lined tin then swirl together with a small knife.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the cake is well risen, golden brown and a skewer comes out cleanly when inserted into the centre of the cake.

Leave to cool for a few minutes then invert the cake on to a wire rack, remove the tin and leave to cool.

To make the buttercream

Beat the butter and one third of the icing sugar together in a bowl or food processor until smooth.

Gradually beat in the remaining icing sugar and lemon juice until light and fluffy.

Cover and keep at room temperature until ready to use.

Peel the paper off the cake, turn the cake over and trim the top level if needed.

Cut in half then sandwich back together with a thin layer of buttercream.

Put top down on a large plate, tray or cake board.

Spread a very thin layer of buttercream over the outside of the cake to stick the crumbs in place then spread a thicker layer all over the cake and smooth with a palette knife, reserving a couple of tablespoons for piping later.

Knead the ready to roll icing to soften then roll out half into a long strip on a work surface lightly dusted with sifted icing sugar.

Trim to make 2, 4 cm (11/2 inch) wide strips long enough to make a cross over the centre of the cake then trim the ends level with the edges of the cake.

Mix the trimmings with the remaining icing then roll out and cut two long strips about 2.5 cm (1 inches) wide and long enough to go diagonally from corner to corner of the cake, trimming the strips to sit flush with the wider white cross.

Arrange the blueberries between the strips of white ready to roll icing. Spoon the remaining buttercream into a paper or plastic piping bag, snip off the tip then pipe dots on to the diagonal white strips and arrange the raspberries in lines on top.

Add dots of icing over the central cross and stick the whole strawberries in place.

Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

Tip

To help you get ahead, the undecorated cake can be frozen wrapped in foil, take out the morning of the party and allow to defrost at room temperature for 3-4 hours.

Slit the vanilla pod along its length, scrape out the black seeds from the inside with a small knife and place in a medium saucepan with the cream and bring just to the boil.

Take off the heat and leave to infuse for 30 minutes.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until creamy.

Remove the vanilla pod from the cream and discard then bring the cream to the boil once more.

Gradually mix into the egg yolks until smooth.

Divide the raspberries between six x, 250ml/8fl oz, shallow ovenproof dishes with a diameter of 11.5cm/4 ½ inches and a depth of 2.5cm/1inch then stand the dishes in a roasting tin.

Strain the vanilla cream over the top.

Pour warm water into the roasting tin to come halfway up the sides of the dishes then bake the custards, uncovered in a pre-heated oven set to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3 for 25-30 minutes or until just set in the centre with a slight wobble.

Lift dishes out of the roasting tin.

Cool then transfer to the fridge for at least four hours.

Sprinkle the tops with the remaining sugar and caramelize with a cook’s blow torch.

Leave to stand for 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Tip:

If you don’t have a cook’s blow torch, put the dishes in the base of the grill pan, surround the dishes with ice and cook under a preheated grill with the tops of the dishes near the heat until golden.

To make the sauce, puree the fruit with the lemon juice and sugar then sieve if liked.

To make the waffles, sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl then mix in the sugar.

Lightly whisk the melted butter or oil, egg, vanilla and milk together in a separate bowl.

Heat up the electric waffle machine.

Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients then whisk until smooth.

Spoon batter into the machine, close the lid and cook until waffles are browned and well risen.

Remove waffles from the machine, transfer to serving plates, cut in half, if liked and top each one with a spoonful of crème fraiche or yogurt, summer fruits and a light dusting of sifted icing sugar then drizzle with fruit sauce to taste.

Add two large handfuls of halved or sliced strawberries, depending on their size to a large jug with a large handful of fresh raspberries, a few sprigs of fresh mint and ¼ cucumber, sliced and cut into 4.

Add Pimms No1 and fizzy lemonade or tonic in proportions specified on the bottle of Pimms then top up with lots of ice cubes.

Jazz up summery drinks by adding small halved strawberries, raspberries and mint leaves or tiny viola or herb flowers to sections of an ice cube tray.

Top up with cold water, freeze until solid then press out of ice cube tray and serve in a small bowl or add straight to a glass of strawberryade, see below, bought elderflower cordial or a G & T.

Strawberryade

Refreshingly simple and easy to make.

Makes 1 litre (13/4 pints)

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Chilling time: overnight Ingredients

250 g (9 oz) strawberries, hulled

3 lemons, scrubbed

75 g (3 oz) caster sugar

750 ml (11/4 pints) boiling water

Method

Crush the strawberries roughly with a potato masher or handheld wand mixer in a bowl.

Pare the rind thinly from half the lemons with a vegetable peeler making sure to leave as much white pith behind as possible or this will the make the strawberryade bitter.

Halve and squeeze the juice from all the lemons then mix into the strawberries with the sugar.

Pour on the boiling water, stir well to mix then cover and leave to cool place.

Transfer to the fridge overnight.

Next day, strain if liked, and pour into a bottle, seal and chill in the fridge until needed.

Use within 2 days.

Serve undiluted with ice or mixed half and half with sparkling water for children.

Line a 33 x 23 cm (13 x 9 inch) Swiss roll tin or roasting tin measured across the base with a large rectangle of non-stick baking paper, snipping diagonally into the corners of the paper then pressing into the tin so that the base and sides are lined.

Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until stiffly peaking and the bowl can be tipped upside down without the egg whites moving in the bowl.

Gradually whisk in the sugar a teaspoonful at a time then continue to whisk for a minute or two until thick.

Mix the cornflour and vinegar together then fold into the meringue.

Spoon the meringue into the paper lined tin, ease gently into an even layer.

Bake for 10 minutes until well risen and just beginning to colour then reduce the heat to 160oC/325oF/Gas Mark 3 and cook for 5 minutes or until just firm to the touch and beginning to crack.

Put a teacloth on to the work surface, cover with a sheet of non-stick baking paper and sprinkle with a little extra sugar.

Invert the hot meringue on to the paper, remove the tin and leave to cool for 1-2 hours.

To finish

Peel off the lining paper from the meringue.

Whip the cream until it forms soft swirls then spoon over the meringue.

Spoon the lemon curd on top then sprinkle with the red berries.

Roll up the meringue, starting with one of the narrowest edges, using the paper and teacloth to help.